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Inflammatory Breast Cancer Information

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare, but aggressive type of breast cancer that carries a poorer rate of survival than other types of breast cancer. Although little is known about the mechanisms that cause this disease, a University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center physician is working to unravel its genetic underpinnings to help develop more effective treatments.

About 10 years ago, Sophia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D., and her colleagues identified alterations in two genes that were present in 90 percent of inflammatory breast cancers that weren't common in similarly advanced non-IBC cancers. This discovery laid the groundwork for the research that has followed.

"This type of breast cancer is so striking and presents so rapidly that developing new treatments is essential to controlling it better," Dr. Merajver said.

According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year; of these patients 3 percent to 6 percent have inflammatory breast cancer. Cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast, often causing the breast to look swollen, red, itchy or generally inflamed. Dr. Merajver added, "This is a highly aggressive form of cancer with a 10-year disease-free survival rate of only 25 percent, as compared with 65 percent for all invasive breast cancers."

Inflammatory breast cancer tends to be diagnosed in somewhat younger women as opposed to other non-inflammatory breast cancers, but women of all ages can be affected. It may occur more frequently and at a younger age in African Americans than in whites. Like other types of breast cancer, it can occur in men.

At the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, inflammatory breast cancer patients are seen in the Breast Care Center for their initial diagnosis and work-up. Our patients' cases are evaluated by a team of experts who pool their resources to develop a comprehensive plan for each individual's care.

To learn more about Dr. Merajver's work, please visit her lab's website at www.med.umich.edu/merajverlab.

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